Saturday, July 31, 2010

The other day a Mom of two little ones came up to me and with a hint of sadness in her eyes she looked at my two teenage girlies.

“They’re so big..” she said to me.

Don’t be sad about your children growing older I told her you will enjoy all of the stages they go through.

Later as I thought more about this conversation I knew there were some things I wanted to share about teenagers. When mine were little I thought it would be sad to lose the babies, but the toddlers were great. Then I thought it would be sad to lose the toddlers, but the big kids were great too. When the big kids became Jr. High girlies they were just as wonderful. Now I tell people that my girlies are ‘the chicks I hang out with’ because they are full blown young ladies. Teenagers...and let me tell you teenagers are even more wonderful.

Teenagers are full of life - they are waiting for life, anticipating all that is to come. They are filled with the excitement of a life that is ahead of them - but don’t forget they are filled with worries about that life that is ahead of them also.

Teenagers are full of ideas - they are discovering new things everyday...things about the world, things about themselves, things about the people around them.

Teenagers are full of loves and hates - they feel so strongly. And, if you are lucky they will tell you about the things they love and hate, because teenagers want you to care about what they love and hate.

Teenagers are full of creativity - they try new clothes, they write poems, they draw or paint, maybe they take photos, they wear a new hairstyle. It is a time for exploring...who am I and what do I like to do.

Teenagers are full of emotion - some days they are full of happiness, other days they are sad or mad. Imagine with all that life inside of you, with all those ideas floating around, with all that love and some of that hate, with so much you want to accomplish...of course you would be full of emotions.

Think back...way back (or for some of you not as far back as me!)...remember those teenage years? Remember the anticipation and excitement...of meeting friends, of going places, of first love (or second or third love).

Remember the frustration...of being old enough for some things but not old enough for others.

Remember feeling independent and strong but still having to follow rules set for you by others.

Remember school...having so much to do, having so much expected of you.

To me my teen aged girlies are a wonder. They have so many opinions for me to consider. They are willing to try so many new and different things. They can’t wait to have some fun, but they are always willing to sit down and talk about ‘things’. What a precious and special time these teen years are. On the brink of living life on your own, but enjoying the last moments of someone else being responsible for the every day ordeals of life.

It is not just the baby days that go zipping by these days also are too few...these are the last moments that we will live in the same house, the last moments we will be a part of each other’s every day lives. The last moments before we send that child that we raised out into the world to try it on their own.

Parents - don’t waste a second...ask lots of questions (the ones that show you are interested), get involved, listen to music together, read the same book, go to a movie and then talk about it. Just who is that teenager living with you? Find out!

I know my girlies Dad wonders why they paint their toenails green...

Teenagers - assume your parents want to know...tell them how you feel, tell them what you think. Remember your parents felt like you do once (they just may need to be reminded). Express some interest in what your mom or dad do...they aren’t as dull as you may think! Spend some time together - it will be worth it.

Some days require patience (from both parent and teen), some days require understanding (again from both sides), some days you will have to agree to disagree...but that is ok. Teens and their parents are not meant to agree on everything - nor will every day be a perfect one...but within those imperfect days there will always be a few perfect moments - treasure them. Hold them in your heart and think of them if the going gets tough, because after all it’s all about love right? We love the teenagers and the teenagers love us...bottom line...it’s all about the love.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

This is one of my most favorite sayings...and this one is extra special because it was stitched by my Aunt Eleanor. Aunt Eleanor was my Nonnie's best friend - she was at all of our gatherings and we loved her so we called her Aunt Eleanor. I remember when I was little and I stayed with my grandparents Nonnie and Aunt Eleanor would talk every night on the phone!

Here are some beautiful bead and button flowers that Madison made for me. Can you see the little gnomes and way in the back there is a gnome breaking out of a squash...

I adore this little guy - I can't remember where I found him...garage sale, flea market, antique store??? But he cracks me up with the little bug on his foot. I think that tiny tea cup was one of my mom's when she was little.

The tiny painting in the background was painted by a good friend of ours - Philip Henri Frasier. It is only about 5 by 8 inches or so and is just so lovely. I have another of his pieces and it is about 5 by 8 feet!!! I love them both.

Here is the Door Mouse that my mom and dad gave to me many years ago. It is the sweetest little thing and lives in that small bowl inside my cabinet.

This is Lane's beautiful 'Peacock' - she won a blue ribbon at the Merced County Fair!!!!!!!! Next to it is a painting done by Lane's great grandfather, my 'Honey'. You can see where her talent comes from.
I love old books...can you see the stack behind Lane's painting? Sometimes I don't even read them, but I love them any way!

A glimpse inside my hutch...the hutch itself is from Aunt Eleanor's house. It has dark wood and curved glass doors in the front and it holds lots of my treasures. My collection of vintage aluminum and green glass is in this hutch - you can see a bit here. There is a stack of pretty tins and the one on the very top is what my brother, Brad, and I used to use to exchange goodies back and forth...I think we may need to start that up again! See the little cream coloured thing near the green glass vase? That is the handle from the cake cutter we used at our wedding.

In the hutch are also several gifts from my good friend Janet. Janet loves old things just like me and she is always sending me the perfect gift that she has found somewhere in her travels. This is my birthday angel. She is of course my birthday month but even better than that on the bottom she is stamped with my birthday year!!! Janet and I found her when we were antiquing together...my birthday was coming up and so Janet got her for me.

Another gift from Janet...Janet loves hearts and I love flowers...so when ever we find things with both we buy them for each other. I think she started that little tradition and I think she has found more than I have. So you see this green ceramic heart filled with flowers...it is actually meant to hang on the wall and has a place to put real flowers in it. I love flower frogs and you can see an old glass one here.

Then there is my cork collection...a long time ago I started saving wine corks and putting the date and event of when we drank the wine. I have quite a few and every once in awhile (in fact it has been too long since we've done this) we dump them all out, read them, and get all nostalgic. I see a Father's Day, a family reunion, dinner at Mom and Dad's...

Brian's bar is another interesting area in our house. There is the crazy bar guy - who makes you think that you have had one too many even before you've had any...he is actually a bottle opener.

There is Brian's collection of shot glasses and misc. bar paraphernalia. I think these mermaids are for putting olives in your drink - cool huh?

I love to hang things where ever I can (it kind of drives Brian a little bit crazy) so here is a button guy I made hanging by the bar.

For some reason I am attracted to round things - marbles, boccie balls, you get the idea. I found these and couldn't resist. I gave them to Brian as a gift - can you decipher their message? Leave me a comment if you figure it out! You can also see a milk bottle in the background - that is from when my Honey worked at Marin-Dell.

We are lucky enough to have a coffee bar at our house. It is very special made from my Nonnie and Honey's old phonograph and radio cabinet. We had a marble top put on it and it works great for parties (speaking of parties I think I need to have one)...These are some of my favorite cups, from another good friend, Judi. One of my most favorite places (or landmarks I guess you could say) - the Golden Gate Bridge!

Here is a tea set that I found when I was out garage sale-ing with my mom. I wanted it so badly and could think of no real reason that I needed it..I went back and forth..get it - no don't get it... finally I just couldn't help myself and so it lives at my house now. It is a children's set and so is quite small and sweet.

Another tea set - one made by that infamous Honey person. You can see the little sign from his copper shop. He made this tea set with his own hands...it is a beauty. He also did the painting in the back - Portals of the Past in Golden Gate Park. http://www.sanfranciscomemories.com/portals/ofthepast.html

The creamer and sugar bowl from Honey's tea set. He even made a sugar cube picker upper thingy... That is a picture of the man himself! And a sketch of Nonnie's sister's farmhouse in Santa Cruz. See those cute little coffee spoons with the coloured espresso beans on the ends?

So.......as you can see my house is full of love...full of wonderful sentimental things...full of gifts and precious things I have saved or that people have saved for me. And that is only the tip of the iceberg - there's lots more I can show you when you come to visit!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

First things first...I could not do my Art Time classes without my two very able assistants! My girlies are truly amazing. They never complain, they are very good at anticipating what is needed, they love working with people...they are very artsy fartsy - and I just love them to pieces!!!

......if you know me at all you know that I don't do much without a snack being a part of things...so each day at Art Time there was a different snack on the table - can't be expected to create without something yummy to chew on!

Once we had all of our design elements in hand we could begin our projects!!!

Something I love about doing art is how the table and surrounding areas get more and more interesting the farther you get into your creation...

On the first day the table was very organized...things were in pretty containers, just what we needed was on the table...all very controlled and contained...wait for it....

By the last day of class anything you might be able to imagine could be found on the table! Just a crazy mess of creative madness....

Art Time included all of the projects that you saw in the Tomodachi Gakko posts and one new one that worked out so well...

We made vases out of cardboard and old magazines!

One of the exciting things about doing crafts or art with people is that you get a wonderful array of interpretations of the project. You can see below just how different each of the vases turned out.

Here is a vase from our 6 year old student...fabulous!

...the 10 or 11 year old

and our 4th grader...each one beautiful and unique!

Here is one that I did - I added a little folded flower...

...and here is Madison's - she created her own flower from some of the rolled paper.
(Lane created one that had seed beads nestled in it - but I didn't get a pic and she has given it away as a gift...she's like that!)

Here's my Madison in her artsy glasses...she needs them to see the little things that we work on...

...and here's my Lane wearing her wire dragonfly as a barrette!

It is my intention to set up a calendar of Art Time classes for the coming year. I hope to do some Christmas projects, a fun calendar for the new year, some springtime creations...just lots and lots of fun things!

I hope that some of you can join us - big people too!

I love the way our vases turned out so much that I am going to post the instructions in the next week or so...they are so easy to do you may even figure it out before then!